Review

[Demisha]

Demisha Jackson
Professor Pokshiva
Writing 150
10/21/10
Essay #2
Have you ever wondered who controlled the internet? I never really did until I read a book named Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World. This book written by law professors Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu. Goldsmith and Wu brought to this book an understanding of the internet and the law governing it. “Who Controls the Internet” is a book based on the internet, its borders, and its restrictions. The authors also emphasize the feuds between the government and the founders of the internet for ownership. The book is broken up into three sections that includes a series of case files that highlight some of the battles over the internet. One example is the United States vs. Antigua over internet gambling. The ending result was the United States getting its way and cancelling online gambling. That case file is just one example of all the various conflicts and interest addressed in the book.
Goldsmith and Wu also pointed out how things such as trade, porn, gambling, and other content are causing a lot of conflict between many nations. Since the different governments can not come to a middle ground, many organizations are forming to help come up with a solution. One group was called the Cybercrime Convention. The Cybercrime Convention was Europe’s idea to come up with a treaty to help the countries come up with a neutral decision after a dispute. The treaty failed, but other groups have organized in efforts to try and do the same thing.
There is a chapter in the book about eBay. The chapter illustrates how the government was needed to regulate, keep criminals away, and maintain order on the site. The chapter on eBay successfully shows an example of how I feel about government power over the internet. I believe that the governments should have control over the internet but only if they are needed. Government should only be on the internet to try to keep the criminals away rather than bully their way into complete control.
When I first began reading the book, it was difficult for me to grasp and understand authors’ view point. I did not know if they were for internet borders or against them. When I was done with the book, I still did not understand what the authors were trying to accomplish by writing this book. The conclusion I came up with, after some heavy thinking, was that they were simply explaining what the internet borders are and the effects that the law and borders have on it. This book does not have a very distinct audience. It is not hard to point out the audience of this book. The audience are people who’s minds inquire about the internet. It could also be people who have to read it because of their writing class. I would recommend this book to communication professors and people who work or teach in the law field regarding the media.
If I would have got to sit down with the authors before the book was published, I would have advised them to make their point clear. It took me a while to figure out that I was not reading an argument book but simply a book of information. Goldsmith and Wu are also very repetitetive when it comes to the book. They often reference an old chapter inside a new chapter in the book. For example, some parts of chapter ten are about the domain naming system. Chapter 3 is almost completely about internet domain names. The chapters could be put together so that the author wouldn’t be so redundant. Other than those few issues I have with the book, I actually like it.
The authors did a great job of explaining things that I did not know about the internet. I never new who invented it and how top companies, such as eBay, came to be the moguls they are today. It also does a great job of illustrating how the internet, not just the companies, came to be how it is today. This book definitely kept me interested. After reading this book I want to research the internet’s “cold war” and stay updated so that I can find the answer to my question: Who controls the internet?




















Works Cited


"About Tim Wu." Tim Wu's Home Page. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. http://timwu.org/about.html

"Jack Goldsmith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Gol...

Goldsmith, Jack, and Tim Wu. Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print